Erik Prince: We Need A Douglas MacArthur

Blackwater founder Erik Prince argues for the need for a single steadfast U.S. military leader in Afghanistan to end the decade and a half of rampant spending and underwhelming results.

“Afghanistan is an expensive disaster for America. The Pentagon has already consumed $828 billion on the war, and taxpayers will be liable for trillions more in veterans’ health-care costs for decades to come. More than 2,000 American soldiers have died there, with more than 20,000 wounded in action. For all that effort, Afghanistan is failing. The terrorist cohort consistently gains control of more territory, including key economic arteries,” Prince writes in his Wall Street Journal op-ed “The MacArthur Model for Afghanistan.”

“As it is, there are too many cooks in the kitchen—and the cooks change shift annually. The coalition has had 17 different military commanders in the past 15 years, which means none of them had time to develop or be held responsible for a coherent strategy. A better approach would resemble Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s leadership of postwar Japan,” Prince argues.

Prince’s five-step solution for Afghanistan is a fascinating read from one of the closest observers and participants in American foreign policy. Prince has never shied away from a gunfight. He confirmed to this reporter at the beginning of the campaign that Hillary Clinton’s U.S. consulate in Benghazi was responsible for buying back some loose weapons following a program in which the United States armed the Syrian rebels (ISIS, of course, emerged from the Syrian rebellion, where it enjoyed Obama administration support in its early stages).